When most of us dream about cars they should have made, it’s usually along the lines of, “they should have put the Hemi in the convertible,” and we see our share of Hemi convertibles being built.

When I saw the 1984 GMC C7000 2Â½-ton pickup listed in the catalog for ICA’s Williams Auction, it looked like a cool modified truck. I told Dan about it, and was surprised when he said, “I’ve always wanted to do that – it’s an easy conversion.”

It doesn’t sound that easy, as the rig has an Detroit Diesel/GM 8.2-liter, 502-cu.in. V-8, Allison MT653 5-speed automatic and 2Â½-ton Rockwell rear axle. That’s $4,000 in parts right there. There’s no engine shot provided, presumably because they didn’t have a ladder that tall (Combining the bed and the cab was the easy part I was talking about, though sticking a GM diesel in one of these ain’t hard either – DS).

The description says it was built by a diesel mechanic, and warns you that “people will run off the road looking at this truck, they will follow you home, ask to take pictures, try to touch it, offer to mow your yard…you get the idea.”

When they cry Lot 49 on November 1 (yes, it is lot 49), someone’s going home in high style.

Wow… Thats all I have to say. Those 8.2 Detroits can pull a house of its foundation and then down the street. Several State Agencies and the U.S. Army use this same motor in their 6×6 vehicles. I drove one in the service for a couple years and beat that motor daily to hell and back. Very reliable up to 400K miles before you’ll see any real issues. I look on eBay and Government surplus websites for this truck all the time – but usually only find trucks that have booms or tool racks etc.. Nice to see one with the Dodge pick-up bed attached to it. These are the hardest find. Does anyone know what it sold for? I would guess between 17-22K at auction? This truck would look a lot better without the cheese.

I have a C70 chevy with an 8.2 in it with bud wheels and air brakes, it also has the right wheel base for the bed, after seeing this truck, I’m going to get a bed and build me a toy. I love this truck.